| Re: History of Arnor [message #47256] |
Di, 24 Mai 2005 07:26 |
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On Sun, 15 May 2005 09:22:13 GMT, "Christopher Kreuzer"
<spamgard [at] blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:
>Belba Grubb From Stock <barbb [at] dbtech.net> wrote:
>
><snip>
>
>> That area would have been in Cardolan; however, as the northern
>> boundary of that kingdom was the Great Road and this dyke/wall is
>> some distance south of the road (the sun moved down to the horizon as
>> Tom and the hobbits headed toward the road, and they finally galloped
>> their ponies over the last furlongs)
>
>I had mistakenly thought the dike (which is the ditch, not the wall) was
>next to the road, but I see that this is not the case. The road is lined
>by tall trees. It is an easy mistake to make, as the hobbits also
>initially thought the bush-lined dike was the road they were heading
>towards.
>
>> it's harder to explain it as "the boundary of a kingdom" that reminded
>> Tom of something sad. Perhaps it marks the place where the people of
>> Cardolan were finally able to hold the line against Angmar's forces
>after
>> the disaster of 1409.
>
>This sounds plausible. Also note that the hobbits and Tom seem to have
>been going north-west, so possibly the dike doesn't run east-west
>(though that is the assumption the hobbits seem to have made - thinking
>it was the east-west road) and it runs north-south or diagonally at an
>angle facing east or north-east. That would be suitable for defences
>against the forces of Angmar in the east.
I feel compelled to point out that the evidence, while interesting and
persuasive, is not conclusive. We must remember that men had dwelt in
this region since the First Age and that many of the Elves who had
survived the War of Wrath had relocated there after the destruction of
Beleriand. Tolkien does not provide a detailed description of that
wall and it may very well have been the ruined remnants of a mighty
rampart constructed by the Elves or the early Numenoreans. More than
3,000 years had elapsed since the fall of Gil-galad, after all, and
stone walls rarely survive intact for more than a few centuries. (It
is possible that the wall was kept in good repair until the downfall
of Arnor.)
We should also remember that it was Tom Bombadil who said that it had
been "a very long time ago." It must have been ancient indeed if
Bombadil, who remembered the first rain drop and the first acorn,
could describe it as such. I like to think that was why Tom would not
say much about it: He grieved to remember the loss of so many of the
fair and merry Elves that he had known at the Dagorlad or during the
siege of the Barad-dur. (I suspect that the Elves would have been
much more comfortable and friendly with Tom than anyone else in
Middle-earth.)
Morgoth's Curse
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